


To jab

by Naraht



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Language Barrier, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 22:09:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9092689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naraht/pseuds/Naraht
Summary: Yuuri's first attempt to speak Russian only offends Yuri Plisetsky.





	

**Author's Note:**

> _Ты (ty) = you (informal)_   
>  _Вы (vy) = you (polite)_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> I am not a Russian speaker but I found myself fascinated by [Russian rules of politeness](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Russian_pronouns#Second-person_pronouns). In particular [тыкать](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D1%82%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C), the offence of addressing someone over-familiarly. And the expression Yuri uses was just too tempting.
> 
>  
> 
> ~~If I've got this completely wrong, I would welcome correction from Russian speakers.~~
> 
>  
> 
> It sounds like the consensus is that this is not believable in Russian. I'll leave this up, because I don't like deleting things. Thank you to everyone who has shared their knowledge.

For his first month in St Petersburg, Victor was the only one upon whom Yuuri dared to inflict his halting Russian. But it was the language of the rink, and he would have to start speaking it eventually. 

In retrospect it was a mistake to start with Yuri Plisetsky.

All he intended to say was 'how are you,' an innocuous gesture of politeness one morning as they stepped onto the ice together.

"Как ты?" he ventured.

Yuri scowled and shot back a reply in rapid, incomprehensible Russian: "Ты меня́ не тычь, я тебя́ не ты́кал."

He skated off with a disdainful gesture.

Embarassed, Yuuri looked to Victor. "Did I say it wrong?"

"He's being a brat, pretending he thinks you are condescending to him. But of course you should say Ты, he's a boy. Even if he weren't, you consider him a friend."

"But what did he tell me, exactly?" pursued Yuuri. 

He had spent his year in Detroit insisting that Phichit – who had been training in the States since he was fifteen – explain the intricacies of English to him in great detail. It had improved his fluency no end.

"He said, _don’t be so informal with me, I haven’t fucked you_." 

An awkward silence. Victor shrugged. "It's an expression. He doesn't mean it literally."

And yet Yuuri couldn't help but wonder.


End file.
